15th Annual Preservation Conference

Held on March 28, 2000,at the National Archives Building700
Pennsylvania Avenue, NWWashington, DC

The National Archives and Records Administration's Annual Preservation
Conferences cover topics on the creation, use, exhibition, care and handling,
conservation, duplication, and long-term storage of information on paper, film,
tape, and disk. This year's Conference brought together conservation scientists,
preservation professionals, and conservators to discuss technical issues related
to deacidification.

A number of deacidification methods exist to preserve library and archival
paper records. Selecting deacidification as a treatment option involves
understanding the distinction between various methods and what they accomplish,
and a careful assessment of the materials to be treated. Concerns that often
guide the decision include: the nature and condition of the paper substrate; the
media and other non-paper materials that may be part of the items; the
dimensions, format, and quantity of items requiring treatment; the intrinsic
value of the material; the efficacy of the proposed method; and evaluation of
one's resources.

Chemical, Architectural, and Mechanical Features of "Paper" and Its
Deterioration: An Overview

Hal Erickson (erickson@physics.utexas.edu)
, Preservation and Conservation Studies, Graduate School of Library
and Information Science, University of Texas at Austin

A brief review of the chemistry of paper's major components, of the
architecture of the paper matrix and the internal architecture of paper
"fibers," and of the mechanical interactions that determine the working
properties of a sheet, followed by a review of how these insights inform our
understanding of the mechanisms of deterioration of paper.

Mechanisms of Washing and Mass-Deacidification

Hal Erickson (erickson@physics.utexas.edu),
Preservation and Conservation Studies, Graduate School of Library and
Information Science, University of Texas at Austin

An overview at several levels of the very different mechanisms of washing
and mass-deacidification, with special emphasis on the necessity of
understanding both as processes that occur at phase boundaries. Prerequisite
concepts not addressed in the preceding presentation was covered, notably
including mechanisms of solvation, morphology of alkaline reserves and the
distinction between pH and alkaline reserve.

Chemical Studies of the Beneficial Effects of Calcium-Enriched Wash
Water

In the course of treating archival materials or works of art on paper the
conservator may want to immerse the object in water containing trace amounts
of calcium. Recent research has explored the chemical benefits of such
treatments and results of treatments with various calcium containing baths.

New Insights into the Effects of Deacidification Treatments and
Storage Environments on the Life of Paper-Based Collections

Implications on the deacidification of paper and its long-term storage by
research carried out over the past few years suggests that acidic paper ages
at a rate that is appreciably faster than has been indicated by currently
accepted laboratory-aging tests.

Saving the Written Word: Mass Deacidification at the Library of
Congress

The presentation described how a mass deacidification program can be
successfully adopted and managed in a library setting, focusing on selection
criteria, work flow and quality control measures, and unexpected benefits of
such a program.

Archival holdings have more in common with manuscript collections than
libraries, but there are still some significant differences that influence how
archives decide to approach mass deacidification. They include intellectual
control issues and questions of diversity of format and media.

This presentation covered the factors one conservator weighs when deciding
whether to deacidify various kinds of objects, including direct and indirect
deacidification methods such as aqueous calcium and magnesium compounds and a
non aqueous magnesium spray, with emphasis on the hazards of potential color
changes and the tools the speaker has found useful and problematic.